MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MAY 14, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner: Announcement from Auditor’s Office of Intent to Distribute Requests for Proposals for Auditing Services for Johnson County’s Annual Audit Engagement......... 1
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek: FY10 Non-Bargaining Pay Plan Including Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and Job Classifications.................................................................. 2
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek: Request for Proposal for Management of Human Resources Services for the Joint Emergency Communications Center............................................. 2
Board of Supervisors: Departmental Responsibility for National Association of Counties Prescription Drug Card....................................................................................................................................... 4
Board of Supervisors: Appointments to National Association of Counties Subcommittees.. 5
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors........................................................... 5
Reports and Inquiries from Executive Assistant Andy Johnson............................................ 5
Reports and Inquiries from the Public.................................................................................. 6
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 6:44 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner informally announced the Auditor's Office is ready to send out a request for proposals for Audit Services for Johnson County. He said the Auditor's Office is giving the option of three or five year contracts for the firms that submit proposals. He said he wanted to make a record of the firms on the Auditor's distribution list. He welcomed any firm excluded from the list to contact the Auditor's Office. Aschenbrenner said the current list includes the following: McGladrey and Pullen of Iowa City; Greenwood and Crim of Iowa City; Clifton Gunderson of Iowa City; the State Auditor's Office of Des Moines; Hunt Kain & Associates of Oskaloosa; EideBailly of Dubuque; Deloitte and Touche of Cedar Rapids; Latta, Harris, Hanon and Penningroth of Iowa City; and Honkamp Krueger and Company of Hiawatha.
Sullivan confirmed that this job is not put out to bid. Aschenbrenner said correct. Sullivan said since he has been a member of the Board, the County has been working with EideBailly. Aschenbrenner said that is correct. He said Eide Bailly was the audit team before he arrived six years ago. Sullivan asked if it would be good for the County to find a different audit firm every few years to guard against mishaps. He said this is not to suggest EideBailly hasn't done a good job. He said it would just allow a different set of eyes to look at things every few years. Stutsman said the Board has done that in the past. She said the State of Iowa did the audit for years. Aschenbrenner said he thinks Sullivan's suggestion to rotate audit services through different firms is perfectly reasonable. Stutsman said the downside is the first year will require a lot more work from the County Auditor's Office to bring a new firm up to speed. Aschenbrenner said absolutely, a new firm will have to know how everything operates.
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek said historically non-bargaining cost of living adjustment or COLA follows the Administrative Unit which is 3% effective July 1, 2009. Union settlements for FY10 were at 3% for PPME, and that includes the Administrative Unit, Secondary Roads, and the Sheriff's Office. She said the cost of living adjustments were at 3.5% for AFSCME, SEATS, Social Services, and MH/DS. The Ambulance employee cost of living increase is 3.75% this year, because they negotiated 3.25% plus $.05 from the year before. She said the average is 3.5%. All AFSCME agreements will be in year two of a two year agreement. The Board budgeted 3% in FY10 for non-bargaining.
Shramek said upon evaluation of the current non-bargaining pay plan, there are no recommended job evaluation changes for 2009. She said the list of jobs and the pay grades will match what is currently in place. She said PJ Group and Associates continue to work on completion of the Non-bargaining Classification and Compensation Study and may have recommendations for the Board to consider at a later date. Shramek recommended the Board approve the 3% increase for non-bargaining employees at a future formal meeting. The Board agreed.
Shramek said a RFP was received on May 7, 2009. She said County Auditor Tom Slockett also received a copy. She said the Auditor's Office is interested in responding to the payroll portion of the RFP. She said the RFP for the JECC is for the management of Human Resources Services to include employee benefits, payroll management, and workers compensation risk management. She said after further clarification with Joint Emergency Communication Center Executive Director Mike Sullivan they are only looking at these three services at this time. She said they are likely to send another RFP for additional services as the JECC gets closer to operation.
Shramek said she needs direction from the Board on whether Human Resources should respond to the benefits and workman's compensation risk management portion of the RFP. Sealed proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on May 29, 2009. Neuzil asked if there is direction from the Board for Human Resources to submit an RFP back to the JECC. Stutsman said she is not interested in having Shramek spend a lot of time doing an RFP. She asked about the pros and cons of preparing the RFP. Shramek said the County has the ability to implement the request. She said the County currently provides Human Resources Services to half of the individuals, because they are Johnson County Dispatchers. She said the additional 13 would not be a problem to serve. She said her personal philosophy is that Johnson County should not profit from an arrangement such as this. She said she would look at actual cost, because taxpayer money is involved. This would take time away from other projects Human Resources is currently involved with for Johnson County departments.
Meyers asked if Shramek foresees that it would take a lot of time on a regular basis. Shramek said there are usually a lot of upfront hours to get something up and running. She would not want to administer plans that the County does not currently provide. She said there is currently one health care plan, and she does not want to have to administer two or three just for that particular unit. Sullivan asked if there is a guarantee. Shramek said no. She said she assumes it will be collectively bargained, and that it is not part of the RFP. She said they would not have control of that. Another item specifically listed in the RFP is long term care. She said that is something the County does not offer at this time. Upon further clarification from M. Sullivan, he said that was fine and that service would not be provided. Neuzil said the same could be said that the Board would not offer a service that is not currently provided by the County. He said he would feel more comfortable if that was written in with the RFP. Neuzil said he is afraid the JECC might be asking for more than the County can offer.
Shramek said there are costs to administer the plan, and there are six other bargaining units in the County. Stutsman said there could be an additional bargaining unit. Shramek said it could be used that way. Stutsman asked if they are asking for health insurance. Shramek said yes, that would be part of the benefits. Stutsman asked how many more employees that would add to the health plan. Shramek said the County currently provides for the dispatchers. She said it would be roughly 15 additional employees added. Sullivan asked if right now there are about 520 employees on the health care plan. Sullivan said he knows that 500 employees is a large savings cut off point. Shramek said yes. He asked if 13 employees would be leaving whether or not the County is providing the services to JECC. Shramek said they would be included in the number of employees if services are provided to them. Shramek said they would add more people. Sullivan said if they leave, the County would be closer to 500. Shramek agreed. She said she thinks the number is fine now, but the future is uncertain. Harney said he would like to do the RFP. Neuzil agreed, but wants a stipulation that the County would not provide services beyond what is currently provided to the dispatchers.
Neuzil said this would be additional work, particularly on the union side, because it would add another unit. Shramek said at this time, they are not requesting collective bargaining. Stutsman said it makes sense to add those. Shramek said it would be hard to piece it together. Sullivan said it would be a big hassle for payroll to do separate deductions. Shramek agreed. Sullivan said it seems like if one was going to be done, they should do both or neither. Shramek agreed. She said they should go together. Stutsman asked what projects Shramek is not going be able to do in order to do the RFP. Shramek said that is hard to say. She said she envisions they would compute an hourly rate, but she does not know how may hours they will actually spend on it. Stutsman said they are in the middle of the salary survey and thinks Human Resources has a lot of current work taking care of Johnson County employees. Harney said it will be more costly for taxpayers if the JECC has to hire independently.
Harney said the Board should move forward and consider the cost. Stutsman said the County's plan will most likely be lower than Iowa City’s plan. Meyers asked if Iowa City has also been approached to provide these benefits. Shramek said she assumes yes, along with some private vendors. Stutsman said if the Board furthers this issue, the County should be prepared to provide the benefits. Sullivan said he is dubious about the issue. He said he would rather stand alone services be contracted out in the private market. Stutsman agreed. Harney said private contracting raises the cost for the taxpayer. Meyers said Johnson County would lose 13 employees off of its insurance plan if the Board pushes for private contracts. Shramek said 13 total dispatchers. Meyers clarified the number of employees still on the plan would be above the 500 mark. Shramek said yes. Stutsman asked how many employees are expected to be put on the plan for next year. Shramek said a couple more. Neuzil said he and Meyers need to weigh in.
Meyers said he is a little uncomfortable with Human Resources submitting an RFP to the JECC. He said it complicates the relationship with the Joint Emergency Communications Center. He said it seems like it would be better to have someone other than Johnson County provide insurance. Harney said the County is providing funding through Emergency Management and he thinks it all falls in place. He said he feels it is the best alternative for the taxpayers. Neuzil said there are three members not interested in having Human Resources move forward. He said he thinks it would be worth it to have Human Resources submit a proposal. He said other entities have their own County funded boards. He said there is not a majority of the Board interested in moving forward with an RFP, however.
Neuzil said the Board had a meeting with County Attorney Janet Lyness. He said Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia was interested in moving administration of the drug card from the Board of Supervisors to Social Services. Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said Lyness thinks it is a valuable program, and it would be acceptable to have Correia handle administration. He said if the County continued to offer the program it would continue the NACo group. He said Lyness said it is also appropriate to look at other companies offering similar programs if Correia and the Board wish to do so. He said if Correia does not take on administration of the program, Lyness thinks it is important enough to keep as a duty of the Office of the Board. Stutsman said she thinks it makes sense to have Correia work on it.
Neuzil said the Board received an email from the Iowa State Association of Counties regarding an opportunity for members of the Board, other elected officials, and department heads to serve on a NACo committee. He said he currently serves on the Energy and Land Use and Environment Committee. He said applications are submitted to ISAC Director Bill Peterson, who will then forward applications after determining how many people from the State applied. He said normally these committees are looking for people to serve.
Stutsman attended a Finance Committee Meeting, a Pandemic Flu Committee Meeting, and a meeting regarding the childcare ordinance with Planning and Zoning. She was appointed to the Council on Human Services and attended her first meeting. She attended the Justice Center Coordinating Committee Meeting on May 13, 2009. She attended a liaison meeting with Johnson. Stutsman also attended a Local Government Affairs meeting May 14, 2009.
Harney attended the Iowa City Area Development Group Board of Directors Meeting, a meeting with Lyness, CJCC Director Bob Elliott, and County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, an ICAD meeting at Proctor and Gamble Oral B facility, and a meeting with National Guard Colonel Vince Reefer who is retiring on May 28, 2009.
Sullivan said the Canvass for the election was done on May 12, 2009. He attended the Chamber Agriculture Committee meeting on May 12, 2009.
Meyers attended the MECCA Give Hope Benefit and an American Association of Retired Persons Meeting. He attended the Taskforce on Aging. He spent time working on the Sutliff Bridge issue the week of May 11, 2009.
Neuzil had a liaison meeting with Medical Examiner Mike Hensch. Neuzil was the bus rider in the annual Bike Bus and Car event. He attended a ceremony at Hancher Auditorium on May 14, 2009. He said Governor Chet Culver will sign Iowa's Infrastructure Investment Initiative. He said the County will receive $100 million from the legislation to help flood recovery efforts. Neuzil will hold a listening post on May 15, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at Mekong Restaurant.
Johnson said the Ambulance Department will administer their Journey Unknown program at Solon High School on May 15, 2009. He said the Board has a Strategic Planning meeting May 20, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. He said the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board meets May 20, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. at the Coralville City Hall Council Chamber. He said the formal and informal Board meetings are May 21, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. He said the Johnson/Linn County Public Leadership group will meet at the North Liberty Community Center on May 21, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.
Central Iowa Detention Center Representative Tony Reed thanked the Supervisors for considering a detention alternative for the County. He said a complete proposal was not submitted to the County this year by the Center. He thanked the Committee and said the Detention Center is interested in providing service for the County in the future. He said the agency is growing and currently covers 18 counties in Iowa. He said it is a non-profit agency owned and operated by the counties. The current rate is $70 a day for detention which provides a cost savings to the County of $300,000 per year based on Reed's calculations.
Adjourned at 7:29 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on August 25, 2009
at 3:30 p.m.